Syria has given Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas the green light to carry out cross-border attacks, said Israel's deputy defense minister, Ephraim Sneh.
"I think that Bashar Assad is aware of the differences in strength between Israel and Syria," Sneh told Israel's army radio. "If there is a renewal of terrorist activity, we will stop it immediately and through more severe actions."
With its warnings, Israel apparent is trying to prevent the opening of a "second front" while it is battling the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Sneh singled out Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon, as responsible for a spate of attacks along the Israeli-Lebanese border, which included the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers earlier this month.
The daily Haaretz said Israel's military commanders would recommend strikes on Syrian targets inside Lebanon if attacks along the border continue.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has tried to avoid a military response which would escalate regional tensions, choosing instead to use diplomatic channels to pressure Syria and Lebanon to refrain from further attacks.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah "has presented Ehud Barak with a difficult dilemma: Respond and the region will boil in anger; don't respond and the attacks will continue," said a Haaretz commentary.
(AP)